e le ct rical-e ngine e ring-po rt al.co m http://electrical-engineering-po rtal.

co m/assemblies-o f-switchgear-and-co ntro l-panels-part-2

Assemblies of switchgear and control panels (part 2)

Edvard

As s e mb lie s o f s witc hg e ar and c o ntro l p ane ls (p art 2) - o n p ho to SKEMA Switc hg e ar

Continued from 1st part of article: Assemblies of switchgear and control panels (part 1) Other components that are needed f or the proper operation of the switchgear or control panel but not necessarily part of the installation or maybe installed remotely are: T he batteries that supply control power f or the proper operation of the circuit breakers Protection devices (will be decribed in next tech. article) Metering packages (will be decribed in next tech. article) Control devices (will be decribed in next tech. article)

The Batteries (Control Power Supply)

T hey could be lead acidor nickel cadmium complete with a charger system sized and rated to operate all loads under normal and power loss conditions. T he stationary battery is designed to serve as an auxiliary /standby source of power to all devices connected to it. T he battery is normally mounted on racks and is continuously charged except f or intermittent discharging intervals of varying times and power. Battery voltage gradually declines during discharge and should not be permitted to drop below the minimum tolerated by the load plus the line drop. To protect the battery against over discharge a low voltage relay (d.c.) is recommended as part of the installation.

The rate of voltage decline depends upon: 1. T he demand current of the load, 2. Duration of the discharge, 3. Chemical design and type of cells, 4. Number and size of plates in each cell, 5. Battery state of charge at beginning of discharge, 6. Age of battery cells and temperature of cells. T he capacity of the battery is basically its ability to supply a given current f or a given period of time at a given cell temperature without going below the minimum voltage (batteries are rated in amperehour at a given discharge rate). Stationary batteries are usually rated f or 8 hours, 3 hours, 1 hour, 1 minutedischarge. T he ampere hour rating is simply the product of the discharge in amperesmultiplied by the given discharge time period. In the next f ew paragraphs the types of plates and grid alloys f or the lead acid and alkaline (NiCad ), the electrolyte properties, battery charging, battery saf ety and f inally battery maintenance will be covered.

Advertisement For the lead acid battery, the positive plates a vailable are: the pasted (F aure) plate which comprises of a latticework metallic grid with the openings f illed with lead oxide paste. T he grid may be made up of lead antimony or lead calcium, the properties of which will be given later . T he second type is the multitubular plates, which use porous plates to contain the lead o xide. T he grid (lead antimony) is basically a row of spines extending f rom the top bar to the bottom cap bar. Porous tubes f illed with lead oxide (powdered) with the grid f orms the positive plate.

Le ad -ac id b atte ry c o ns truc tio n

T his design f orm prvides more AH of capacity per cubic f oot of battery volume at moderate rates of discharge. T he third and last type is the plante typewhich is considered to have the longest lif e expectancy of all lead acid stationary battery designs. T he positive plate consists of a grid (lead antimony) of large area with thin layers of lead oxide. Such plates have complex designs with circular openings where corrugated lead ribbons are rolled into spiral ribbons.T he negative plates irrelevant of the type of the positve plates are built with pasted plate design. Metallic sponge lead is used on the negative plates. T he negative grid f or the multitubular and plante (positive plates) is made of lead antimony, with the pasted plate, it is either lead calcium or lead antimony. T he grid of alloys, antimony or calcium, serves both purposes gives physical support and strength to the sof t lead and acts as an electric conductor.

T he grid achieves and retains a physical shape and conducts the current to all parts of the material. Pasted plates with lead calcium alloy grids are used in sealed maintenance f ree lead acid cells due to the f act that this type does not require watering during its lif e time. Lead antimony is pref erred f or installations where elevated temperature and f requent cycling is encountered. Lead calcium is also used f or installations requiring longer intervals between maintenance watering. T he disadvantageof lead calcium is that under f requent cycling the lif e of the battery is reduced signif icantly. For the nickelalkaline batteries there are two types of plates, the pocket type and the sintered type. T he pocket type is used f or both positive and negative plates. T he activ e material (nickel hydrate positive and cadmium sponge negative plus additives to help conductivity) is sandwiched between two perf orated strips (nickel plated steel). T he strips are crimped together and this assembly is placed in a U shape frame. Af ter intermeshing the positive and negative the insulator pins are put in place, through the f rame and plates. T hese elements are than put in a container and the cell cover (with vent cap and appropriate hole f or terminal poles) is installed. There are three common ratings: 1. High (discharge shorter than 1 hour) 2. Medium rate(discharge shorter than 4 hrs) 3. Low(the battery will supposedly carry loads f or up to 20 hrs)

For lead acid batteries

T he electrolyte is a solution of diluted sulphuric acid. When the battery is f ully charged, the positive plate is lead peroxide and the negative one is sponge lead. T he specif ic gravity of the electrolyte is maximum at start of discharge, the reaction between the acid and the active material produces lead sulphate and water the specif ic gravity gradually decreases. When the battery is placed on charge the reverse takes place. T he volume of acid in the electrolyte of a lead acid battery is measured by specif ic gravity.

No rth Ame ric a' s firs t auto matic ally wate re d b atte ry array. The s e hig h-e ffic ie nc y le ad ac id b atte rie s will have a lo ng us e ful life .

Specif ic gravity f or stationary batteries used f or switchgear, control and emergency lighting is approximately 1.210 (the highest volume of acid as compared to other applications but in lower concentration). To determine the state of charge of the battery, the gravity reading is compared with the f ull charge value published and to the specif ic gravity drop of a particular cell size at a specif ic discharge rate. T he reading has to be corrected to the ambient temperature at time of measurement if other than 25 deg C.

For the NiCad Batteries

T he electrolyte is a solution of potassium hydroxide diluted in water with normal specif ic gravity of 1.16to 1.19at 25 deg C, additives are added to improve its capacity. When the battery is f ully charged the positive plate nickel hydrate is highly oxidized and the negative plate is sponge metallic cadmium. Af ter discharge takes place the positive plate reduces to lower oxide while the metallic cadmium in the negative plate oxidizes. None of the constituents of the alkaline electrolyte combine with the active material of the plates during charging or discharging. T he specif ic gravity of the electrolyte can not be used to indicate the state of charge of the battery. NiCad Batte rie s b e ing re g e ne rate d T he specif ic gravity readings will vary f rom normal rating when he electrolyte temperature is lower or higher than 25 deg C, when the solution level drops below the normal, or the battery has been in service f or long time.

In this paragraph charging of both types of batteries will be covered. T he lead acid stationary batteries are continuously f loat charged while on a standby status and are charged with a high constant potential current limited level af ter a discharge. T he higher voltage value depends on the recharge time required to recharge the battery. As the charging time is shortened the chargers cost increases. T he charger is a static rectifier (SCR), its f unction is to change the single phase or three phase input (120, 208, 240, 480, 600V 60HZ ) to a d.c. outputsuitable f or charging the battery and maintaining a constant voltage throughout the batterys load range. To prevent the self discharge phenomena (standing loss) the charger maintains a f loat charge that continuously monitors and corrects f or these internal losses. Batteries equipped with lead calcium grids rather than lead antimony require a f loat charge per cell higher than its counter part (eg. 2.2V vs. 2.15V). T he fully charged battery(lead antimony alloy grid 1.2 10 sp. gravity) will draw between .05 to 0.1A per 100Ah of battery rated capacity at the eight hour discharge rate. For lead calcium alloy grid 10% to 20% of an identical lead antimony alloy will be drawn. Current drawn under dif f erent ambient temperature conditions is as f ollows: the higher the temperature the higher the current drawn and vice versa. Chargers compensate, usually, f or variations in f loatcurrent demands. T he f loating current is directly proportional to the cell (battery) voltage. T he f aster the rate of change in voltage the higher he current drawn at the f loating voltage. T he charger should be able to provide the f loating v oltage with a v ariation of no more than plus or minus 1% throughout its ampere rating. Chargers f or NiCad batteries (stationary)are simillar to the ones used f or lead acid, f loat charged while on standby and a higher charge af ter a discharge (f or a prolonged period) af ter which f loat charge level is resumed until f urther discharge. T he value of the higher charging current is at least 5% higher than the 8 hour discharge capacity. Float rate f or NiCad batteries is about 1.4 to 1.45V per cell at 25 deg C. Af ter a discharge the higher charge is applied until voltage rises to 1.6 per cell (it is maintained f or 15 to 30 hours). T he size of the charger ampere rating is usually matched to the load demand plus the maximum high charging rate required by the battery. T he battery starts to discharge when the demand exceeds the charger supply or when the a.c. supply to the charger is cut of f . The data required for the proper selection of a charger are: 1. Total current, 2. Voltage (d.c.) 3. Duty (continuous, standby , combination) 4. Automatic control (recommended) 5. Voltage (a.c.) and number of phases Standard components that are found in a charger are: 1. A.C. & D.C. f use protection 2. D.C. ammeter and voltmeter 3. A.C. on pilot lamp 4. Reverse battery protection 5. A.C & D.C. surge protection 6. High rate on pilot light

7. Automatic current limit short circuit 8. Float / high rate current limit potentiometers 9. Alarm circuits 10. High rate charge timer A storage battery is constantly live electrically and theref ore a source of electrical shock. Tools should never be laid on top of the battery as such an action can cause severe short circuits. Smoking is f orbidden in battery rooms. Hydrogen gas level should never exceed 4% by volume in the battery room thus adequate ventilation is to be provided. Ref er to the local electrical saf ety code (for example CSA C22.1) f or requirements of the method of connecting the batteries and of the battery room ventilation. Electrolyte used in lead acid batteries is highly corrosive. If spilled on any object it has to be neutralized through the use of 1 lb of bicarbonate soda and 1 lb water. Electrolyte used with alkaline batteries, if spilled has to be neutralized by f looding the spill with solution of vinegar diluted with water 5050 proportion. It is highly recommended to use goggles (or f ace shield) and rubber gloves when maintenance is perf ormed on a battery. Maintenance to a battery is the proper addition of water (tap or distilled) to correct the electrolyte solution level and to keep a record sheet with pertinent inf ormation. Tap water can be used if the impurity limits are not exceeded. It is important to keep the battery clean and dry, the connectors tight, the electrolyte at the proper level, the electrolyte density according to the supplier recommendations. To be continued Resource:Unknown